I'm looking for a mythical quick fix to get some form back.

PostieJohn
PostieJohn Posts: 1,105
edited July 2017 in Training, fitness and health
I'm thinking my best bet is staring down my nemesis and just doing blocks of hill reps.
Is hauling myself up moderate 8-10% climbs a 'quick' way find some form?


2016 was a great year, having ridden all winter, I smashed my way round a 10,000+ km year with many a high points along the way.
For x different reasons 2017 has hardly started and any riding I have done has been in patches.

I hope I'm now able to move forward on the bike, which ironically is the one thing I can't seem to do! :)

Ideally I'd like to cheat myself back to some kind of level where I'm not embarrassing myself again.
This week, first time out for a couple of months, my mate drop me on EVERY incline (nose bleeds at 2% embarrassment).

I'm 47 and have always been more Roubaix than Alpine.
Surprisingly while off the bike my weight hasn't ballooned, but I guess some muscle has gone.

Yesterday I did a couple of 400ft climbs then treated myself to a 10 mile flat ride home.
Coming home I was left feeling those 10 miles would have been better spent repeating the climbs, as my 'engine' was as ok as an automatic diesel can be.
http://www.bikeradar.com/road/forums/vi ... t=12792776

Comments

  • jgsi
    jgsi Posts: 5,062
    This reads like 'Angst of a Middle Aged Bike Rider'.
    I never understand fully the thinking behind "if I cannot climb then I must a sh rider".
    If life gets in the way of your riding then accept that .
    There are no legal shortcuts to getting back into your mythical 'form'
  • PostieJohn
    PostieJohn Posts: 1,105
    JGSI wrote:
    This reads like 'Angst of a Middle Aged Bike Rider'.
    I never understand fully the thinking behind "if I cannot climb then I must a sh rider".
    If life gets in the way of your riding then accept that .
    There are no legal shortcuts to getting back into your mythical 'form'
    Oh I've never been able to climb, and I'm certainly not a sh** rider.

    But this is the first time life has got in the way of me being the, untrained, rider I am/was.

    I'm wondering if say 20 miles of climbing and descending is a better way to jump start to my legs, than 40 miles of good effort on flat/undulating roads, or perhaps specific sprint (in the loosest sense of the word) efforts.
    Although I do draw the line at brow sprints, I'd rather be a sh** rider than get involved with that silliness.

    I'd be annoyed if I carried on as I always have pootling around (avoiding the insanity of hill reps, like the plague) and finally return to competent levels only to be told:-

    'well if you'd concentrated on x, y, & z instead, you could be back riding well enough with your friends and still be in bib shorts'.
    http://www.bikeradar.com/road/forums/vi ... t=12792776
  • AK_jnr
    AK_jnr Posts: 717
    edited June 2017
    You mention your FTP. So I assume you have a PM.
    It doesnt matter what route you take, you can still ride in the appropriate zones.

    Edit. Not sure where I thought you mentioned FTP, so ignore my comment. Lol.
  • Alex_Simmons/RST
    Alex_Simmons/RST Posts: 4,161
    There are no shortcuts. One can do training that results in more rapid short term gains but there is a cost to sustainability.
    RST Sport : Coaching - Training Plans - Powermeters -- My blog -- AeroCoach Australia
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    Don't bother looking because, as you say, it's mythical.
  • StillGoing
    StillGoing Posts: 5,211
    Here's your choice; you can put more time aside for training and sacrifice your home life. Or vice versa. What's more important to you and what will you regret not doing when older.
    At 52 I had my best year on a bike. Two daughters grown up and flown the nest, retired from police, stacks of riding, best averages and fittest I'd been in years. I missed out on my daughters growing up due to time away in the Army and working shifts in the police, and one day, the time comes when you're not the be all and end all in their lives as they spread their wings. You will never get those opportunities of time with them that you missed back.
    A year later at 53, I had my 3rd daughter and had a stroke. Seeing my quality of life nearly ended because of a stroke, I made the decision that I was going to ensure I spent every opportunity with my new daughter. I recovered from my stroke and being retired, became the stay at home parent raising my daughter. Time I will never get back with her if I chose to put her into day nursery and go riding my bike. Same goes with weekends when there are plenty of activities I can take my daughter to and sacrifice time on the bike. As she nears school age, I've started going out on the bike a few times. Yes it is slow compared to before, but at 56 now, I can accept that things slow down and it takes time to rebuild, plus I've been too inactive cycling wise and put on a few pounds. But why do you cycle? If its merely for leisure and fitness, why stress over not being as good as your mate. If its to race, then clearly you have a choice to make.
    You might not have kids or a partner, you might not have a business that requires time commitments, you might not have sick or elderly relatives that you give time to, but whatever sidetracked you from cycling, must be important enough to have done it. You just have to decide what your priorities in life are. If its cycling, you need to put the time in.
    I ride a bike. Doesn't make me green or a tree hugger. I drive a car too.
  • sungod
    sungod Posts: 16,522
    pot belge if you really want to cheat, don't advise it though

    otherwise, hill repeats, they're dull but you should improve (as long as you are pushing it)
    my bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny
  • trivial_poursuivant
    trivial_poursuivant Posts: 1,136
    EPO?
  • neeb
    neeb Posts: 4,467
    It can be pretty demotivating knowing that you are capable of riding much faster and what it feels like, but being unable to do so due to lack of fitness, and knowing that it will take quite a while to get the form back..

    Here's an idea (and I never thought I'd say this to anyone) - take up MTB, or gravel riding, or whatever. You will be able to steadily build up your bike fitness while having the motivation of learning something new, and without direct comparisons to your previous fitness levels obviously apparent. Then in a few months time you can come back to the road riding with increased fitness and enthusiasm.
  • reacher
    reacher Posts: 416
    Just get out and train hard, theirs no secret.
    Every body to their own, but i'm not convinced that spending time training when you get older should be considered a sacrifice, you dont need to spend hours training to maintain your health and well being if you have time to watch one television programme in a day or browse social media content etc you have time to train,
  • Joshgav
    Joshgav Posts: 158
    Oxygen tents? Mysterious packages taken across country borders? EPO. There's lots of instant fixes but they do require that you get out and ride.

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